Sweet as a Georgia Peach, Sharp as a Rose's Thorn
by tearsofamiko
Summary: Quite suddenly, all of her secretive little laughing looks make so much sense.


Title: Sweet as a Georgia Peach, Sharp as a Rose's Thorn

Author: Tearsofamiko

Rating: K

Disclaimer: I own nothing about _Star Trek (2009)_, its characters, or plotlines, including any recognizable dialogue.

Spoilers: Nah

Summary: Quite suddenly, all of her secretive little laughing looks make so much sense.

.:::.

The sun is warm on his head, a pleasant contrast with the crisp air, and he closes his eyes, savoring the feeling, soaking it up after months in space. The chatter and noise of the Academy campus makes him smile; after six years, the grounds have lost their empty feeling, class levels having finally risen back to where they were before Nero's incursion. He leans his head back against the pillar, lets it support his weight, and waits for Bones to show up, daughter in tow, so they can go eat.

"Jim Kirk," a voice to his right drawls, slow and husky, and his eyes pop open at the whiskey-smooth tone. He's instantly intrigued by the young woman leaning against an adjacent pillar, despite the decade-or-so age difference.

She's not beautiful, not by typical Terran standards. Her features are just slightly too strong, her forehead a little too wide, her brows not quite as delicate as is popular. But she's pretty, her face animated, full mouth quirked into an amused grin, one corner twitching as she crosses her arms and lounges against the column. Her hair is loose around her shoulders, deep mahogany shot through with auburn, perfectly framing her smile and eyes. And those eyes – brown-green hazel with flecks of gold, expressive eyes that laugh and dance and taunt.

"Well, hey, darlin'," Jim replies, something familiar in her face, in those sparkling eyes, and he's bound and determined to figure it out.

She laughs at his poor imitation of her accent, the sound low and honest as she tips her head back slightly, drawing an answering smile to his face. Her eyes glitter more than before as she shakes her head.

"Captain of the _Enterprise_ and Academy legend," her voice references more than just his smarts and leadership, touches on his extracurricular activities, "and all you can come up with is 'Well, hey, darlin'?'" She snorts and shakes her head again, shooting him a skeptical look out of the corner of her eye, challenging him to do better.

He pushes off the column he's leaning against and walks over to stand nearer to her. She's only barely shorter than he is, wearing cadet reds, and her grin has a secretive little quirk to it that's driving him crazier than a short skirt ever did. She looks expectant, an eyebrow arching (a vague notion stirs in the back of his mind, no definition, hardly a thought) as he makes another attempt.

"I don't want you to think I'm ridiculous or anything, but you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I just felt like I had to tell you," he quips, reaching out to barely touch a lock of hair next to her temple. Her lips twitch as she stares at him, eyebrow creeping into her hairline as he tries to keep a straight face. Her eyes narrow for a second before she bursts into laughter, wrapping an arm around her middle and leaning against the column, her eyes wide and suspiciously bright (_familiar_, his mind supplies).

"Oh, I almost thought you were serious, Captain," she tells him, a hand on his arm, amusement still clear on her face as she steps closer to him. The sweet scent of magnolias filters through his senses as she invades his personal space. "I like a guy who can make me laugh." Her voice is low, a stage-whisper for an invisible audience, with a thread of laughter still running through it, and something about her face hints at mischief.

He smirks down at her, enjoying their repartee and idly considering asking her out for drinks or something later. Nimble fingers play with the braid on his sleeve as they stand there, the campus crowds ebbing and flowing around them, and he wonders when he hasn't already made a move.

"Well," he drawls, grinning as she rolls her eyes, "you know my name, but I don't know yours."

"You're fine without it," she quips, eyes laughing up at him.

"I _am_ fine without it," he preens, hamming it up to make her laugh. She does, wrinkling her nose.

"Damn, your lack of self-esteem is just _heartbreaking_, darlin'." Her tone is biting, amusement stretching out the Southern drawl and he feels the hair on the back of his neck rise at the sound. She doesn't notice his frown as she turns and scans the quad.

"Looking for someone?" he asks good-naturedly, glancing discreetly at his chrono, vaguely wondering where Bones is and whether the man had managed to catch his daughter before the next class started.

"Sorta," his companion replies, cutting him a look out of the corner of her eye. "Jealous?"

"Depends," he counters, watching her eyebrows rise slightly. "Do I get to play, too?" He's only half-joking; he's been in space a while.

Her smile twists into something vaguely unnerving, if the mischievously evil look in her eyes is anything to go by. "God, I wish he was here to hear you say that," she mutters under her breath, an unholy sort of gleeful longing on her face. "Dammit, I told him I'd wait out by the Sciences building," she grumbles, and he smiles charmingly.

"I'd be happy to fill in," he offers, sweeping a hand out gallantly. She smirks at him, rolls her eyes and shakes her head, not answering as she continues to watch the quad. "Seriously," he says, touching her arm to catch her attention.

She turns and stares at him, studying his eyes for a second. He knows that look, he realizes, as the breeze picks up for a second and a strand of hair falls across her face. She blinks and her eyes focus on the errant lock, going vaguely cross-eyed. He doesn't think about her missing companion or Bones' unusual lateness, just reaches out and smoothes the hair away from her face, his palm lingering on the warm curve of her cheek as he tries to decipher the secrets in her deep hazel eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doin'?" a man barks and Jim jumps away from the young woman in surprise. Blinking, he frowns as the voice registers.

"Bones?" he asks, confused. McCoy's expression lightens slightly, though he's still glaring.

"Jim?"

"Daddy!" the young woman cries, flying down the steps and flinging herself at Bones, who 'oofs' and wraps his arms around her while Jim just stands there, dumbfounded.

Staring blankly at father and daughter, the similarities are almost unnerving and Jim begins to wonder how he didn't realize it in the first place. From her honeyed drawl to her hazel eyes, her height to her hair color, there is no denying Joanna McCoy's parentage and, quite suddenly, all of her secretive little laughing looks make so much sense. And the whole thing's so much like something Bones would do, he can't help his amusement, laughter bowing him over until he's leaning weakly against the column, arms around his middle, as the two McCoys stare at him. Their identical expressions – equal parts 'what the hell' and exasperation, complete with quirked eyebrows – set him off again.

Eventually he straightens, thumbing tears from the corners of his eyes as he struggles to catch his breath. A grin is firmly etched into his features as he strolls down the steps and points an admonishing finger at Joanna, whose smirking shamelessly.

"_You_ ought to be ashamed of yourself," he says, a smile breaking free of the grin as she giggles, eyes bright with mischief. Bones looks vaguely confused, a wary sort of understanding taking hold of his features. He opens his mouth, thinks for a second, then shakes his head, eyes closed.

"Ya'll ready to go eat?" he asks, apparently choosing to let the matter go, though he keeps an eye on Jim. Jim smiles innocently back at him; McCoy rolls his eyes.

Joanna wraps her arms around one of her dad's and the two head across the quad. Jim trails behind them, listening to Joanna – who seems _much_ younger now – ream her dad out for taking so long.

"Where were you? I told you I'd be in front of the Sciences building when my class let out," she chides, her tone an eerie echo of Bones' when Jim does something stupid.

"Yeah, she was desperate to know where you were, Bones, going out of her mind looking for her daddy," Jim supplies teasingly, sneering playfully at Joanna, who lets go of her dad's arm and smacks at him. Jim laughs and dances around to put Bones between them.

"Shut up, Jim Kirk!" Jo screeches indignantly, her eyes alight with mirth and ire.

McCoy rolls his eyes as they feint and lunge around him, Jo trying to hit Jim and Jim trying to avoid Jo. "Now, children," he starts in a dry tone, as he tries to keep from being knocked over.

Jim somehow manages a swat on Jo's rear, triggering an indignant yelp that makes Jim grin like a fool as Bones pinches the bridge of his nose. Jo freezes, a slow, evil smirk spreading across her features like oil on water. An ominous chill slides down Jim's back as she carefully backs away from them.

"Better watch out, _Captain_," she warns, sounding eerily like Uhura, "or I'll tell Daddy what you said to me, earlier."

The smug, silly grin freezes on his face at her words, his eyes widening slightly as he remembers the come-ons and the thinly-veiled innuendo in the offer of company he'd plied her with.

"Jim?" Bones asks, his voice a low rumble filled with curiosity and the threat of injury, as he turns to face his friend, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. Behind his back, Jo sticks her tongue out at Jim, grinning, eyes filled with glee at his predicament. "Somethin' you wanna tell me?"

"I..." Bones cocks his head, prompting Jim to continue. Jo giggles and clasps her hands behind her back. "...Um." He has no idea what to say, cringing slightly as McCoy begins to advance on him. Bones gets frustrated enough at Jim's regular exploits; he shivers to think of the doctor's response to knowing Jim had hit on his daughter.

"He offered--" Jo starts and Jim lunges forward, intending to put a hand over her mouth. She shrieks and takes off across the quad, her laughter trailing like ribbons behind her as Jim gives chase, Bones hot on his heels.

.:::.

_end_

.:::.

The idea for this came from Memory-Alpha's entry on Joanna McCoy, which says Gene Roddenberry said "'In a future story we will bring McCoy's daughter Joanna aboard. She will be a lovely girl, and Captain Kirk, of course, is going to be involved with her. Dr. McCoy is suddenly going to discover he is a father viewing Kirk from a father's perspective.'" She never showed up, but I liked the idea of reboot!Kirk hitting on Cadet McCoy and her threatening to tell her dad.

For the purposes of this story, Jo was 10 when Bones left for the Academy, 13 when Nero struck, and is 19 now.


End file.
